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Mount Athos, the “Autonomous Monastic State” of Greece (2016)

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Re: Mount Athos, the “Autonomous Monastic State” of Greece (2016)

#131

Post by necovek »

SllX wrote: post #42
necovek wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds irrelevant instead, and whoever wrote the article, is obviously being a bit too playful with words. Of course it's not "two weeks ago there", it's just that the date is different: it's as if you tried to use a different calendar system altogether — it's fine, you just need to convert back and forth. FWIW, a bunch of churches (Russian, Serbian, Romanian Orthodox churches) still respect the Julian calendar to…

It’s a travel mag, not an investigative report. Playing with words and making bad jokes is like 90% of what they do and that’s just fine.

As long as you don't take it seriously like the GP did, I agree that's fine.

Unfortunately, people do take it seriously, so it's also fine to point it out for what it is.

Re: Mount Athos, the “Autonomous Monastic State” of Greece (2016)

#132

Post by BucketsMcG »

eatonphil wrote: post #2

The time zone issues sound fun: > A visit to Mount Athos also involves literal time travel. The monasteries there still go by Byzantine time, in which the day begins at sunset, not midnight, so the time zone changes literally every day. Visitors may have to set their watches back by as much as seven hours as they cross the border. And don't forget to change the date as well. Mount Athos never adopted the new-fangled…

This is more or less true in Ethiopia too. The length of the day doesn't vary much there, but by convention the clock is offset by six hours, which makes for great fun when you arrange to meet somebody and have to establish whether or not you mean "Ethiopian time". Noon to us is six o'clock to them.

They're also on the Julian calendar, giving rise to their old tourism slogan "13 months of sunshine".

Re: Mount Athos, the “Autonomous Monastic State” of Greece (2016)

#133

Post by ChainOfFools »

srcreigh wrote: post #85
rwmj wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And no entry in the timezone database :-( https://github.com/eggert/tz/search?q=athos But then if they have no computers, maybe that doesn't matter.

There's at least one computer on Mt Athos. I've heard a first hand story about a monk there who takes nice photos of animals. He just goes for walks and says, for example, "Snake, come here let me take your photo!" So the snake swims across the lake for a good close up. You can get lots of great photos that way.

I know for certain that, from 1997 onward, there was at least one Amiga 2000 on Athos (specifically, in Vatopedi) because it used to be mine.

How long it stayed there, or whether (given that it was originly a N.American, thus 60hz/NTSC edition, though perhaps it could detect and switch to PAL operation) it was ever even plugged in, I never found out.

I'm not even sure the monk who I gave the system to (staying in the US for study) had any particular plan for it, though he did know his way around the machine just well enough to run tetris and wordperfect.

Re: Mount Athos, the “Autonomous Monastic State” of Greece (2016)

#134

Post by dangerbird2 »

zajio1am wrote: post #99
joelmichael wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being better aligned with astronomical events makes it more correct. The purpose of the calendar is to map the year, the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. The drift in the Julian calendar was not intended. It is a flaw.

I would say that the purpose of the calendar is tracking time/days in general. Astronomical events are just used as a tool to do that. Earlier calendars were lunar-based instead of solar-based, as keeping synchronized with moon is easier.

The solar cycle is extremely important for premodern agricultural societies, since it allows predicting growing and harvesting seasons. If you're going by the Julian calendar and the Autumn equinox is falling on September 10, there's probably going to be confusion as to when the harvest should occur. In the case of the Gregorian Calendar, Catholic countries rely on the Spring Equinox to schedule Easter, and when it started occurring well before March 21, this made it increasingly difficult to synchronize the religious and secular calendars.

Re: Mount Athos, the “Autonomous Monastic State” of Greece (2016)

#135

Post by papandada »

boringg wrote: post #12
math_denial wrote: post #7

I often yearn for the "unearthly quiet" and structure of a monastic life. I am not religious but I just feel as if I don't belong in society: I don't care about work, jobs, careers, riches, fame. I would like a life of study, contemplation and silence.

What's stopping you from attaining that?

"wherever you go, there you are"

Re: Mount Athos, the “Autonomous Monastic State” of Greece (2016)

#136

Post by unfocused »

Interesting timing of this post. A priest from Hamatoura Monastery in Lebanon (https://lebanonuntravelled.com/hamatoura-monastery-kousba/), just died it was announced he is to be buried at Mount Athos.

Hamatoura appears to be of similar style of build, high up on a cliff....or rather in a cliff!

Re: Mount Athos, the “Autonomous Monastic State” of Greece (2016)

#137

Post by dang »

throwawaygal7 wrote: post #82
NKosmatos wrote: post #77

One of the bad aspects of religions are such restrictions that have no base whatsoever. If we omit this anachronism, Agion Oros, as it's commonly called in Greece, is a nice place to visit (Christian men only) with an unspoiled environment and peaceful way of living. It's common for many Greeks to visit at least once this special place (something like Hajj/Hadji), but in recent times this has been declining. There ar…

The monks have no reason that they forbid women? Just cause? INTERESTING.

If you keep posting flamewar comments we will have to ban this account. We've already had to ask you about this.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Mount Athos, the “Autonomous Monastic State” of Greece (2016)

#138

Post by lukebuehler »

Christopgr wrote: post #102

Well, the company I work for builds the hotel system for two of the biggest monasteries! (It's a super outdated .NET Framework + webforms website for which, over the years, they have requested micro-changes to the fullest extent so it's really made to measure now, I am pretty sure it will never be upgraded) The two monks I have spoken with are real sweethearts, but they sound really bored and idle to me. They do love…

So interesting! I have been to the the mountain a few times, and once I get to know the life of a specific monastery better, I’m always surprised that there is quite bit of technology, especially computers. I think many monks have laptops now too. I’m sure some are lurking here on HN.

Re: Mount Athos, the “Autonomous Monastic State” of Greece (2016)

#139

Post by martythemaniak »

Mizza wrote: post #123
martythemaniak wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're underestimating the extent to which monasteries are commercial, and have been for many many centuries. You don't go there to chill, you go there to work hard and earn money for the monastery. In past times, they were helped along because they were given a monopoly over certain economic activities. Getting a job at a sclerotic state-owned enterprise is probably the closest equivalent today.

The point is not to LARP as a 15th century monk, the point is to live a non-commercial life of quiet, focused service.

I dig it, I just think monk is the wrong model.

Re: Mount Athos, the “Autonomous Monastic State” of Greece (2016)

#140

Post by bobthechef »

NKosmatos wrote: post #77

One of the bad aspects of religions are such restrictions that have no base whatsoever. If we omit this anachronism, Agion Oros, as it's commonly called in Greece, is a nice place to visit (Christian men only) with an unspoiled environment and peaceful way of living. It's common for many Greeks to visit at least once this special place (something like Hajj/Hadji), but in recent times this has been declining. There ar…

You're a victim of the biases and presumptions of your own egalitarian culture.

There is a basis. Men and women are different and sexually complementary. One obvious reason is that the sexual tension and constant presence of people of the opposite sex (female orders exclude men also) and subsequent temptation and stirred concupiscence can be a distraction to the spiritual life. But the tendency for sex segregation occurs naturally. People tend to befriend people of their own sex because of an affinity of similarity, not complementarity. This is an important distinction.

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